


Rebellion

by chimaeracabra



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Teenagers, dad bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:55:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22168207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra
Summary: Bucky's teenage daughter tries to pull one over on him and go out with a boy she likes.
Relationships: Bucky Barnes/OFC, James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Secrets Aren't for Keeping](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2799851) by [chimaeracabra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra). 



Christina knew you didn’t lie about things in the Barnes house. But this is one she was sure she would get away with. As she finishes curling her hair, something that she could always do with ease, thanks to the hair type she had inherited, she can’t help sighing and wishing that her mother would let her go blond. It isn’t that Christina hates her brown hair; she just wishes she could look less like her dad. Any time friends come over and see Bucky around, they would tell her she looks _just_ like her dad. But as Christina stares harder at her reflection, she realizes it’s more than her hair colour. She has Bucky’s entire face, yet in a gentler, very feminine way. Sometimes it scares her to look in the mirror because she would imagine Bucky cracking down on her about missing her curfew or not wanting to go to therapy.

Her mom often sided with Bucky, too, something that constantly irritated her. She hated how overprotective Bucky could be. He wouldn’t even let her walk the new dog at night alone. If the sun was down, he had to be with her. Not always right by her side, but often not far behind. Her parents would usually join and stroll several feet behind her, holding hands, and when she’d glance back at them to see how far away she could get, they were often kissing. They were always kissing. Christina thought it sweet that her parents were still drop dead in love with each other, especially when most of her friends had parents who were going through divorces or already separated.

Christina blushes at herself in the mirror, fanning herself, and deciding that she doesn’t need more blush. She sighs, opening her bedroom window a little bit more to let in the mid-June air. It’s not too warm that her makeup will melt down, but enough that she can comfortably wear the shorts and blouse she had picked up while shopping with her mom last weekend. She knew that her little brother Theodore was too busy helping their mother in the backyard, proud of himself that at eleven years old he could actually push that heavy lawnmower and was allowed to shear the shrubs. So, he wasn’t going to notice her sneaking out the front door and tattle on her. As far as Christina knows, Bucky is going to be working all weekend, so when her phone vibrates and she realizes that the boy she’s currently crushing on is at the curb, she rushes out of her room, stuffing her keys and phone into the small purse that her aunt Natasha had given her for her birthday. It was a good purse, kept her from carrying too much.

She’d meant to text the boy to stop a few blocks before her house, but in her excitement, she had forgotten to remind him on his way there. He’s leaning against a 2007 Honda Accord, a bit of his shoulder length blond hair in his face in the gentle wind as Christina closes the screen door behind herself. Time seems to move in slow motion then as she makes her way towards a boy named Emory. He starts to pull the back door open for her at the same time that Bucky’s Rav4 pulls into the driveway. Her heart stops. She knows he already saw her. And she swallows hard as the engine barely stops before Bucky steps out of the vehicle, his hair still damp from showering at the gym where he works.

Christina finds herself wishing that her father didn’t look so goddamn intimidating, as he grins, sauntering across the lawn in an obnoxiously formfitting black t-shirt, making him look all the more terrifying as his muscles practically tear the material. Emory coughs, covering his mouth, his green gaze widening.

“Is that your dad?” he asks, only loud enough for Christina to hear. She was halfway inside the Honda when Bucky rode up. She nods, sighing. Bucky removes his sunglasses, squinting and tucking them in the neck of his shirt.

“Stina? Where you headed to, baby?” he asks, finally within earshot. He’s not even looking at her as he asks, sizing up the boy who is a head shorter than him, both of them taller than her.

“Uhm,” Christina mutters.

“Who’s this?” Bucky asks. Emory’s gaze is plastered on Bucky’s bionic arm. The boy swallows hard, his hand practically trembling as he offers it to Bucky to shake. Bucky glances at the boy’s hand a moment before taking it.

“I-I’m Emory. Emory Sacks. We go to the same school. I-I was over for dinner last Friday,” he explains.

“Were you?” Bucky asks, finally glancing at his daughter, who has since stopped trying to get inside the car. The horn beeps impatiently, seeming to startle Emory.

“Well, Mrs. Barnes made lasagna and you weren’t home,” Emory explains, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnes.” Bucky recalls that he’d had a guy’s night out with Steve and Sam and hadn’t been home for dinner. But he doesn’t recall Cherise having told him anything about this Emory kid. He starts to wonder if perhaps this was on purpose. But he’s not so sure his wife would keep the fact that their daughter likes a boy from him.

“Hmmm,” Bucky grins, “Yeah, I’m James Barnes. Christina’s father. My wife makes a mean lasagna. Sorry I missed out on that…” Bucky steps closer to the car and leans downwards to face the window, which rolls down. Christina hadn’t realized that there were two other guys in the front seat. Seniors, only one of whom she’d met before and knew was Emory’s friend.

“How old are you boys?” Bucky asks.

“Eighteen,” comes a voice from inside the car.

Bucky snaps back up and cocks an eyebrow at Emory.

“How old are _you_ , son?” he asks.

“S-seventeen.”

“Dad, can we please go?”

“Go where?” he asks, crossing his brawny arms. Emory practically shrinks away, pressing his back harder against the car.

“There’s a party for juniors and seniors going on at a friend’s,” Christina explains, sighing. Bucky looks at her in some disbelief.

“You never mentioned a party, Stina. Your mom didn’t say anything about it either, And it’s for juniors and seniors? You’re a sophomore,” he explains.

“I just _finished_ sophomore year, so technically I _am_ a junior.”

“Oh, you wanna get technical?” Bucky asks without humor.

“Dad—”

“Listen, I’m sorry, Emory, that you had to waste gas driving all the way over here. But my daughter’s not getting in this car. She told my wife she was going to the movies with her friends Michelle and Diane this afternoon, and I can tell now that this isn’t true,” Bucky explains, looking at Christina in a way that tells her she’s already grounded. The summer has _barely_ started and she knows she’s going to be spending it in her room.

“Dad! Are you _serious_ right now?”

Bucky turns his attention back to Emory, “How ‘bout you maybe come around for dinner some night I’m home so I can get to know you better, since you clearly have an interest in my daughter?” Bucky pats Emory’s shoulder with his mechanical arm.

“Sounds like a plan, Mr. Barnes,” Emory beams, swallowing hard again, “Uh, Chrissy, I should go. It’s not a big deal. There will be other parties,” Emory explains. Christina glares at him and then at Bucky.

“See you this summer,” Emory promises, briefly grasping Christina’s hand. Bucky watches this happen with deep inner rage which he keeps hidden behind a toothless grin. He waves as Emory starts around the car and slides into the back seat. Bucky closes the door that Christina had almost made her way inside of, and pats the back of the Honda with his bionic hand, leaving the smallest of fender benders for the gaggle of boys to discover later, and the car takes off.

“Dad! Why did you do that?!” Christina yells. Bucky’s anger surfaces on his face and he grabs Christina by the arm, leading her to the front door.

“ _Chrissy_?” Bucky asks in disgust.

“Dad—stop!” Christina shrugs him off and plants herself where she stands, “It was just a fricken party!”

“You never said a word about a party to your mother and I this whole week. I caught you in a lie, young lady! Your mother texted me this morning saying you were going to the movies with female friends.”

Christina shakes her head, looking away angrily for several seconds.

“You wanna explain why you lied to your mother?” Bucky asks.

“Dad—I’m _sorry_!”

“Yeah, you’re going to apologize again to mom. Let’s go,” he says, holding her arm. She rips it out of his grasp.

“One day I’m gonna have a boyfriend, and there will be _nothing_ you can do about it!” The venom in his daughter’s voice wounds him and his heart sinks. Bucky points at the house ahead of them.

“Get your butt in that house,” he states. Christina stamps towards the front door. She slams it before Bucky can make his way in. He pauses there for a while, listening to his little girl lock the door from inside. His blood boils. Not only did she lie about where she was going, she was going to be somewhere with a bunch of horny teenage boys, and it didn’t help that the school year had ended with two of her school mates, boys around her age, being expelled over allegations of sexual assault. He starts to the Rav4 to collect his gym bag, glad that hardly any veterans had showed up for the new class he started teaching on Saturdays, otherwise he wouldn’t have made it home in time to find his daughter trying to sneak off in a car full of older boys. He’s so angry that he can’t think straight for a moment. He drops the duffel bag on the front porch before fumbling with his keys to open the front door. He finds Christina in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of iced water from the fridge. She glares at him when he walks in.

“Where’s your mother? You’re going to come with me _right now_ and explain to her what you were about to do,” Bucky says as calmly as he can muster. Christina’s angry face and attitude pisses him off even more. She shoves past him and he grabs her arm.

“Let the fuck go!” She yells. Bucky’s eyes widen. This is the first time that his child has ever sworn at him.

“ _Excuse me_?” He asks, “What did you just say to me?!”

Christina struggles, and in the process, drops the glass of water. Cherise gasps, happening upon this scene.

“James?” she asks, stepping into the kitchen from the back door.

“ _I fucking hate you_!” Christina yells, trudging away and running up the stairs before Bucky can capture her again. Teddy is following shortly behind Cherise, having caught the last thing that his sister said, and his smile fades immediately when he sees the broken glass on the floor and his dad’s broken expression. Bucky doesn’t even notice that he’s crying until Cherise brushes a tear away from his face where he stands dumbfounded. Teddy is rushing to the broken glass with a dustpan, ever the helpful kid.

“James, what happened?” she asks.

“Don’t cry, dad. She doesn’t hate you,” Teddy reassures, capturing the last of the wet shards and hurrying to the trash before he retrieves the mop.

“Thank you, Theo,” Cherise says, smiling at their son a moment.

“Did you have any idea that our daughter was about to get into a car with a bunch of eighteen-year-old boys and go God knows where?” Bucky asks, wiping his eyes. His tone is still infuriated, but Cherise can tell that it’s not her he’s angry at.

“You told me she was going to the movies with her girlfriends,” he says, “This Emory kid?!”

Cherise frowns.

“That’s because I thought that she was. That’s what she told me. I’m sorry, James. I didn’t know about the car full of boys, but I know she has a friend named Emory. He was over for dinner the other day and I didn’t tell you because, well, I didn’t think it was an issue. Stina always tells us about her friends.”

“Cherise, the kid is _obviously_ more than a friend. Have you ever seen the way he looks at her? He was out there calling her little pet names! She was about to drive away with _three_ boys—all older than her,” Bucky explains. Cherise becomes incensed.

“Ughhh,” she starts past him and he addresses their son for a moment.

“Thank you, Teddy. Stay down here,” Bucky states before following after Cherise, who he knows is headed to their daughter’s room. Teddy knew things were about to blow up. Christina had a way of yelling at their parents that Teddy knew would be followed by a grounding.

“Christina!” Cherise yells. The sound of their daughter’s door slamming meets their ears before they even make it all the way up the stairs. And suddenly, the house is blaring with some sort of rock and roll music. This isn’t the first time Christina has tried to drown them out when she got into trouble. Cherise attempts to open the door and it’s locked. She pounds on it loudly.

“Christina Barnes!”

When there’s no answer, Bucky gently moves Cherise to the side and twists the handle until it forcibly opens, breaking. He’s irritated that he’s going to have to replace this piece again. Christina stands up off her bed, crying angry tears. She yells at them to go away. Bucky moves for her iHome, turning the music off and shoving her iPod into his back pocket. She’s yelling at them to get out while Cherise is asking her why she lied about going to the movies with girlfriends.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t want me to go! You _always_ side with him!” she yells, pointing angrily at Bucky, “It’s not _fair_! Mom—you _met_ Emory! You know he’s a normal kid. I hang out with him all the time at school!”

“Christina, that’s not the same thing as going out somewhere _alone_ with a group of boys—”

“What are you trying to say, mom?! That I’m some kind of slut?”

“Stina, that’s not at all what I was implying.”

“Well, it feels that way! I’m _sick_ of living in this _stupid_ house with your _stupid fucking_ rules!”

“Don’t you talk to us like that!” Bucky warns, raising a finger to her.

“See, mom?! You _never_ stick up for me! It’s always whatever _James_ says!”

“That is your _father_. Don’t you dare insult him. Your dad would walk through fire for you. Stina—you _have_ to understand our concern. Two boys from your school—one of whom was in your _own class_ —were recently accused of rape! We just want to protect you.”

“I don’t _need_ protection! I need to be able to live my life!”

And just like that, she throws her balled fist into the mirror and it shatters. There is a moment of silence where Bucky’s eyes are wide and Cherise is shocked by their daughter’s rage. And then Christina drops to the floor, screaming, red streams flowing from her left fist.

“Oh my god.” Cherise rushes to Christina’s side, cutting herself on a shard in the process and gasping.

“Be _careful_ ,” Bucky states, grabbing her off the floor and towards the bed before stepping over the shards in his sturdy athletic shoes. He picks their daughter off the floor bodily and starts to rush down the stairs with her. Teddy is in the hallway, staring up the stairs.

“Mom? Dad? …What happened?” he asks with concern as they rush to the front door, Christina screaming all the while. Cherise hurries to hold the door open for Bucky as he carries their daughter outside.

“Teddy—come here, honey. We’ve got to get your sister to the ER,” she explains, grabbing his hand. Teddy looks like he’s about to cry. He follows and they make it outside in time to find Bucky securing Christina in the back seat.

“It hurts!” she moans. Bucky had ripped his shirt and made a makeshift bandage around her fist, telling her to keep pressure on it.

“I know, sweetie. It’s bleeding a lot. Just hold on,” he says sweetly, opening the door and turning the keys in the ignition. Cherise directs Teddy to sit in the front seat beside his father before she maneuvers into the back to try and calm Christina, who is audibly in a lot of pain. Bucky drives as fast as he can, and Christina gradually quiets down, but continues to moan in agony.

“You made dad _cry_ , Stina!” Teddy shouts angrily, turning to glare back at her, but his expression softens when he visualizes how much pain his sister is in.

“Teddy—please face forward, buddy,” Bucky explains, gripping Theodore’s shoulder, making sure his seatbelt is buckled. Cherise is rubbing Christina’s arm comfortingly, having moved to the seat right next to hers. As soon as they make it to the ER, Bucky carries Christina into the hospital, Cherise clutching Teddy’s hand. He looks about as upset as Bucky now, and is asking Cherise if Christina will be okay.

“I’m sure she will, honey. She punched a mirror,” Cherise explains. Some nurses immediately wheel Christina away, her hand bleeding in a manner that had begun to scare her parents. She was going immediately into surgery. Cherise, Bucky, and their son stand in the lobby worriedly before Bucky clutches them both.

Teddy has fallen asleep in a chair with Christina’s iPod in his ears. Cherise and Bucky are standing eagerly waiting for Christina to wake up. Her hand is wrapped and they only hope that she didn’t do enough damage to seriously impact her quality of life.

“She’s got to _stop_ having these outbursts,” Bucky explains quietly, not wanting to wake their son. Cherise looks at his face for the first time since they brought Christina out of surgery to find that he’s crestfallen. She places her hand comfortingly on his bionic shoulder. He looks at her.

“She really hurt herself this time. I can’t believe she did that,” he explains.

“I can’t either, James. I’m speechless.”

Bucky sighs, “She’s skipped three of her therapy sessions in the past few weeks. We should never have let that happen…How’d she grow to hate me so much?” he asks. Cherise’s heart breaks.

“She doesn’t hate you, Bucky.”

“She _said_ it,” he explains, his voice breaking slightly.

“No, babe…She was just angry,” Cherise explains, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his chin. She kisses his cheeks soothingly.

“All I’ve ever tried to do is protect her from all the evil in the world, and she hates my guts.” Cherise shakes her head, not knowing what else to say.

“Mum…?” Christina’s voice is groggy. Cherise turns around instantly to find that their daughter is waking up.

“Daddy…?”

Christina starts to weep weakly.

“We’re right here, baby,” Bucky explains, pushing some hair out of her face. She gazes up at the two of them apologetically, groaning.

“Let me get the nurse. They said they were going to wait until you woke up to give you anything more for the pain,” Cherise explains, stepping out into the hall for a moment to garner the attention of some nurses.

“I’m sorry,” Christina cries, sitting up slowly.

“Take it easy, baby doll,” Bucky says, trying to coax her to lie back down. She whimpers.

“I’m sorry, daddy…I don’t hate you. I’m sorry, mom,” she weeps.

Bucky kisses her temple a long moment.

“It hurts,” she groans, wincing.

A nurse walks in with something for the pain, and Cherise and Bucky stand back a moment to allow her to help.

“We love you,” Cherise reassures, the two of them rushing back to her side once the nurse has administered a med.

“I just wanted to go out,” Christina explains, wiping her eyes with her uninjured hand.

“I just want to be able to do things like _other_ kids my age. I’m sixteen,” she explains.

Bucky hands her the tissue box he finds by the bed.

“I didn’t mean it, dad. I’m sorry,” she chokes. He sits atop the bed to hug her. She weeps into his chest.

“Shhh…it’s okay,” he promises, “You are right, princess, you _are_ sixteen. But you know that your mom and I love you and just want to keep you safe. How about we make a deal? Emory can come for dinner when I’m around. I want to meet his parents. And as long as it’s you and him hanging out, maybe you can go to the movies sometime. Your mom and I just want to know that you’re safe at all times. Is that fair? Does that sound fair to you?”

Christina nods, blowing her nose.

“I’m sorry,” she says again.

Cherise hugs her next and Teddy awakens to his sister sandwiched between their parents with her eyes closed, her pain gone. He pulls the earbuds out of his ears and joins in on the group.

“And,” Cherise begins, “Me or your dad will continue dropping you at therapy every week from now on. No more skipping.”

“Okay, mom,” Christina promises.

“And if he breaks your heart, I promise I’ll kick his ass!” Theodore says. To Bucky’s and Cherise’s relief, Christina laughs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't going to be more than a one-shot, but I wrote some more. Lol. Now I think I'm done with it.

Bucky could only watch Emory make eyes at Christina across the dinner table, and as he stabs his broccoli a little harder than he’d intended to, he smiles as Emory grabs his attention, asking him what it was like being a sergeant in World War II. Bucky’s eyes widen for a moment. He hadn’t expected to be put on the spot quite like that.

“I mean—if it’s okay that I ask. It’s just so amazing to me that you were alive back then,” Emory adds, blushing slightly. Christina closes her eyes for a handful of seconds, something she tends to do when she’s embarrassed. Cherise giggles, picking up the salad bowl and disappearing to the kitchen to refill it. Bucky clears his throat. He’s about to tell stories that his son and daughter are very familiar with, and probably tired of hearing. But Bucky smiles genuinely, happy that the kid that’s in love with his daughter is interested in his life.

“Well, Emory, I was in the 107th…”

As Bucky continues, he catches a glimpse of Christina shaking her head out of the corner of his eye, but opts to ignore this. Emory’s expression indicates that he’s genuinely interested and it seems to Bucky that the kid gradually forgets all about Christina.

“I was thinking about joining the army, actually,” Emory says, “My cousin was air force, an officer, and the VA paid for him to go to dental school.”

“Oh, you wanna be a dentist?” Bucky asks.

“Maybe not _that_ , exactly, but I think it’s great the benefits they give you for serving your country. And I like to think I’m pretty patriotic myself,” Emory explains. Bucky grins.

“So, you wanna serve your country.”

“Yes, sir,” Emory beams, “My grandfather served, and my dad was a Navy Seal.”

“Navy Seals are tough,” Bucky explains, lightly sprinkling some salt on his brown rice, “You should _really_ look into their training before you just throw yourself into the deep end.”

“I grew up with my dad telling me all kinds of stories. Believe me, Mr. Barnes, I’ve heard of hell week.”

Reluctantly but surely, Bucky begins to find himself starting to actually _like_ his daughter’s boyfriend. He spares her a glance to find that she’s looking rather annoyed that Emory’s attention has drifted away from her. Bucky smiles while laughing internally. His little girl always had to have everything her way or the high way.

“Sweetie, you picked a good one,” Bucky explains, winking at her and earning an intense blush from her.

“You ever shoot an AR-15?” Theodore asks, gazing over at Emory with starry eyes. The boy seemed to be admiring Emory as much as Bucky was beginning to.

“Absolutely!” Emory beams.

“Cool! My dad and my uncle take me shooting sometimes,” Theodore adds, before going on about all the different types of guns he’s shot at targets. Bucky knows that his son is simply eager to grow up, and has a tendency to look up to the men in his life. If Bucky didn’t know any better, he was beginning to feel more comfortable with this whole situation, his daughter dating. Emory has yet to slip up on Bucky’s tests of worthiness. Cherise breezes back into the dining room, still looking as beautiful as she had the very first time that Bucky had ever met her, despite the time that has passed and the journey they’ve embarked on as parents. He finds himself staring as she places a fresh bowl of salad in the center of the table.

“Boy, how did I get to be such a lucky man?” he asks, wrapping his flesh arm around Cherise’s waist before she can move away from where she is beside him. She laughs as he kisses her cheek. She kisses his forehead.

“Oh, you’re sweet,” Cherise whispers.

“Mom—dad,” Christina mutters in embarrassment, but Emory doesn’t seem bothered by this at all. He smiles at Christina and she smiles back at him shyly.

“I’ll tell you, Emory, you’re in for a serious treat. My wife made her banana bread and apple turnovers for dessert. I even picked up that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream you kids are always so crazy for,” Bucky explains.

“That’s actually my favorite brand, Mr. Barnes.”

“Really? What flavor?”

“I like the one they did after the Hulk, but I can’t remember the name of it…”

Bucky laughs, “You know, my wife actually works with Dr. Banner sometimes. She’s in the labs at the Avengers facility.”

“Oh, yeah. We talked about it last time I was over for dinner. I was trying to see if I could do a science internship during the summer, but they’re _so_ competitive to get into,” Emory explains before taking another bite from his plate, chewing with his mouth closed.

“Maybe I could pull a few strings for you, Emory,” Cherise explains, “I hate to say it, but going to work in certain fields these days is more about who you know and not your resume.”

Emory nods.

“My mom says that all the time. She’s an anesthesiologist,” Emory explains.

“So, you like science?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah. Physics is my favorite. I’m thinking of majoring in it in college.”

“Gee, Stina, you _really_ picked a smart boy,” Bucky explains.

Christina laughs, looking over at Bucky in a relaxed manner. She had been tense the whole meal until Emory started talking to him. By Bucky’s estimations thus far, Emory is a good kid. But he isn’t so sure about the other boys he didn’t know who he briefly met the other week when Christina was trying to sneak out of the house. She reaches for the bowl of salad, just out of her grasp. Emory is quick to pick it up and start doling it out to her.

“Say when,” he explains. Christina rests her chin atop her hand, her eyes full of what Bucky still believes to be puppy love as she stares at Emory. Bucky can’t help but look at the scar on the back of his daughter’s hand. She’ll have it forever, it seems. The wound had nearly completely healed by the day after she left the emergency room. He and Cherise had assumed that the serum running through his veins in some ways still manages to benefit their children, who seem to be fast healers in general. He’s only happy that Christina hadn’t done enough damage to her hand to render it unusable. He hated to imagine her losing a limb like he did, and is glad that she hasn’t had an outburst in the past two weeks quite like the one that had sent her to the ER most recently. Despite how polite and well-behaved Emory seems to be, a small part of Bucky’s heart breaks to imagine his daughter leaving the house and going anywhere _alone_ with a boy.

But because it’s a Friday and she doesn’t have school since it’s summer time, Bucky allows it when Christina asks to walk the dog with Emory before he goes home for the night. Bucky has half a mind to get into the car and try to follow them stealthily, but he knows there’s no way he’ll be able to do it without Christina noticing. Cherise massaging his shoulders as he stands on the lawn staring after them calms him slightly. He sighs.

“ _James_ …you have to let her go. She’ll be back in no more than an hour or so,” Cherise explains, kissing the back of his flesh hand. He sighs again.

“Yeah, I know. I know. It’s just hard,” he explains, “She’s with a… _boy_.”

Cherise laughs. Bucky turns around, not nearly as amused.

“Cherry—I was a young guy once upon a time. I _know_ what’s on their minds,” he explains, pointing to his head, “Us boys and young men, when we’re young, all we can _think_ about is sex. How we can have sex, get girls to have sex, I just…” Bucky grits his teeth, his metal arm whirring. For as long as Cherise can remember, his arm does this when he’s near her, especially when she touches him, but it also happens when he’s really, really angry or worked up, a rarity that Cherise generally witnesses when their daughter or son’s safety is concerned. Cherise shushes him, and his blue eyes pop back open and he gazes down at his wife. She cups his cheeks in her pretty little hands.

“ _James_ ,” she says.

“I know—I know. Deep breaths,” he explains, taking a few.

“I just don’t want him…touching her,” he explains, making a disgusted face and whipping around again to find that the two teens have now ventured out of sight with the dog.

“James, _calm_ down,” Cherise says, and he can hear the smile in her voice. She finds this so amusing, but to Bucky, it’s worrisome.

“Has she told you that she wants to have sex with him?” Bucky asks.

“No. James, she’s just happy that she even gets to spend _time_ with the boy, now that you’ll allow her to.” Be this as it may, both Bucky and Cherise had firmly established rules with Christina about dating. The first one is that boys are simply not allowed in her room. Christina had tried to haggle with them and figure out if she could get them to let Emory be in her room so long as the door was open at all times, but Bucky put his foot down on that.

“God, Cherry. I can’t take it! I need to be able to _see_ them—”

“Bucky, get your ass in this house,” Cherise states, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling it. He finally turns around to follow her, grabbing hold of her hips.

“Well, I’m sorry. But that’s my little girl! That’s our first born, Cherise…how are you _not_ worried?”

“They’re just walking the dog! They’re definitely not going to try anything outside, Bucky.” Cherise is laughing again.

“At most, they’re just going to kiss.”

“ _God_.”

Emory is a gentleman again when he returns with their daughter and dog, thanking both Bucky and Cherise for dinner, and chastely kissing Christina on the cheek before driving home.

“Please be sure to call when you get home,” Cherise adds, seeing Emory off. Bucky loves that about his wife, how motherly she always is. Emory wasn’t even her kid, but she wanted to make sure that he got home safely, too.

“I’m going into the lab tomorrow and I might be there all day. Would you be able to swing by the pharmacy and pick up Christina’s prescription? Also, Teddy’s acne medication just got refilled and he’s been asking for it,” Cherise explains as Bucky helps her tidy up the kitchen. Their daughter’s psychiatrist had suggested they put Christina on a mood stabilizer in the past, and they hadn’t wanted to go the pharmacologic route, but after her last outburst breaking the mirror, they decided it was worth a try to keep her calm.

“Of course, sweetie. I’m free all day after I do a morning class at the gym,” he explains, kissing her temple and placing a pod in the dish washer. He leans against the counter, watching Cherise empty the rest of the leftovers into Tupperware. She is the perfect wife in his eyes.

“That boy is turning into a man right before our eyes,” he explains, talking about their son, “Have you noticed his voice is starting to get deeper already?” Bucky saunters to the refrigerator, which is littered with photos of their son and daughter, along with Steve and Natasha’s son, Sam and Sharon’s two kids, all the children of everyone they consider family. He momentarily picks up a photo of Theodore hugging his old chocolate lab, Bob, who they buried not too long after Teddy turned two. Bucky misses that dog, but the photo still makes him smile.

“I know,” Cherise beams, turning to gaze back at him, “He’s gonna be killing the ladies, just like his daddy,” Cherise explains, cocking an eyebrow suggestively. This causes Bucky to blush.

“Where did all the time go, Cherry?” Bucky asks, making his way over to her and wrapping his arms around her, “I remember when Stina was a _baby_.” His eyes tear up. Cherise closes the last container and turns around to find Bucky looking nostalgic.

“Bucky, don’t worry, babe. We still have _so_ much time and so much more raising to go through with these little troublemakers,” Cherise explains. Her joy as she speaks of it all makes him happy. He picks her up abruptly and places her on the countertop, earning a gasp from her. He ventures between her thighs, beneath her breezy sundress.

“I know, doll. But jeez…Don’t you want a baby again?” Bucky asks, “We could, like, freeze it or something so it won’t grow older,” he explains between kisses as he daydreams, tucking Cherise’s hair behind her ear, dipping his fingers into her spine and massaging her. She laughs and moans. Music to his ears.

“Are you trying to kill me, Mr. Barnes?” Cherise asks. After they had Theodore, she wasn’t trying to get pregnant ever again, and Bucky was okay with that. He had gotten the son he always dreamed about. But he wished that Christina was a baby again at times. She wasn’t nearly as much of a handful back then. She still had outbursts, the terrible twos, but she slept a great deal of the time and seemed to enjoy cuddling with her dad, something that Bucky admittedly missed.

“Maybe,” he whispers, grabbing her ass. Cherise moaning as Bucky kisses her neck is an unwelcome sound to Christina’s ears as she walks into the kitchen to find her parents in such an intimate position.

“Gross!” She exclaims, walking towards the fridge for the orange juice. Cherise tries to jump down off the counter, but Bucky’s stance has her trapped there and he grins at his daughter.

“What? You were brought into this world because of how much I love your mother. You should be thankful, young lady,” Bucky says.

“No! TMI, dad! TMI!” Christina explains, placing her juice on the counter and pressing her fingers over her ears for a moment, “You guys are out of control,” she says, walking out. Bucky starts to laugh wholeheartedly.

Bucky finds himself feeling invigorated after leading a kickboxing session. He walks into the same pharmacy he’d been going to for Teddy’s acne medication for the past couple of months, ready to pick up the prescriptions for his kids. He gives the woman behind the counter their names and waits patiently before starting on his way back to the car. He’s reading the labels on the bags, just to make damn sure that the pharmacists didn’t screw anything up, and when he reads the word _Loestrin_ near Christina’s name on the package, his heart stops. He only knows about this medication because Cherise had tried the pill due to her unpleasantly painful periods.

He had vivid recollection of the name of the medication she tried and as he frantically opens the bag to find that it’s no mistake that his daughter had been prescribed this, along with her Celexa, he nearly faints. He starts to text Cherise with shaky hands, hoping that maybe the birth control pills are to help their daughter manage her mood as well. She’d only started getting her periods at the beginning of the school year, and Cherise had thought that maybe PMS was contributing to her anger outbursts.

He can’t even turn the key in the ignition as he sits in his car, trying not to think about why his daughter is on the pill. He starts to wonder if maybe she’s been on it for much longer and that Cherise simply hadn’t told him, and maybe _that’s_ why she didn’t seem nearly as worried about their daughter being alone with Emory. Bucky starts to wonder what else his wife hasn’t told him about their daughter lately. He’d only found out about Emory when he caught Christina trying to leave the house with him. Bucky checks the fitness tracker he wears on his flesh wrist to find that his pulse is much higher than it should be, considering that he’s been sitting in his car for a few minutes now, trying to calm down.

He realizes that this must be why Cherise had neglected to tell him about this particular prescription. He tended to be over protective and it got him all kinds of stressed out, raising his blood pressure. He didn’t have to worry about their son hardly at all. Teddy was a good boy who never made any effort to defy his parents or their rules, and Bucky just knew that Teddy was not at all interested in girls. At least not _yet_.

“Oh, god,” Bucky sighs, finding that Cherise has texted him back: _Talk when I get home_. He groans angrily, deciding he will simply not give either prescription to his children until after he can talk to Cherise about the birth control. He decides he won’t be able to drive safely until he can speak to Cherise, so he calls her. She picks up on the second ring.

“James, please don’t freak out,” she says before he can even say anything.

“Freak out? Cherry—I’m _way_ past freaking out here,” he explains. Cherise sighs.

“Baby, please tell me that our sixteen-year-old girl is _not_ having sex,” Bucky begs.

“Oh, Bucky. You’re going to drive yourself crazy—”

“Cherry?!”

“No. No she isn’t, James.”

“Then _why_ —?”

“Bucky, I’m not going to have this discussion with you right now. I really can’t talk. I’m in the middle of an experiment.”

“Cherise, please. Okay, I’ll—I’ll calm down,” he pleads, “You still there?”

“James—I really gotta go. I’ll be home as soon as I can, okay? Do _not_ start a fight with Stina, okay? Just give her the mood stabilizer and we’ll talk when I get home.”

Bucky sighs, “Okay, Cherry. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she says sincerely before hanging up.

Bucky distracts himself by cleaning up around the house, both his kids finally out of bed for the day. They rarely woke up in the morning on the weekends. He had left the prescriptions in a hard-to-reach part of one of the kitchen cabinets, mopping the floor really hard with diluted Lysol solution, causing the house to smell like lemons. He knows that Cherise will be happy to see that he’d done some cleaning, even though she already did it before Emory came for dinner the previous night.

“Dad!” Teddy calls from up the stairs, snapping Bucky out of it just as the handle of the mop begins to crack under the death grip of his bionic hand. He sighs, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow with the back of his flesh hand.

“Hey, dad!” Theo calls again.

“I’m down in the kitchen, buddy!” Bucky calls back. It isn’t long before his son rushes down the stairs and pauses in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Where—whoa, are you _mopping_?” Teddy asks, his eyes widened. It’s rare that he sees his dad clean to this extent. It was usually Cherise obsessively cleaning the house.

“Careful, buddy, it’s wet,” Bucky explains, reaching out his hand in Theodore’s direction.

“Mom’s at work,” Bucky explains before continuing to mop.

“Move,” Christina says impatiently, pushing past her brother and pausing in her socked feet.

“ _Manners_ , Stina. You weren’t raised by wolves,” Bucky explains.

“ _Excuse me_ ,” she says, looking her brother in the eyes. Theodore nods.

“Ugh—dad! The floor—”

“I’m cleaning, baby doll. You both gotta get out before you slip,” Bucky explains, shooing them away. Christina starts to back out of the kitchen.

“You know mom cleaned the whole house yesterday, right?” Teddy asks.

“Can you please fill up my water bottle?” Christina pleads. Bucky carefully steps towards her to pick up the bottle she’s holding. She flips her shiny long hair back and suddenly, Bucky feels like saying something about the shortness of her shorts. He swallows hard. She’s just too pretty, the kind of pretty that has always had him staring at Cherise. Bucky doesn’t like the thought of boys, or worse, _grown men_ , looking at his daughter’s developing long legs as they seem to travel for miles out of her shorts. If he didn’t know her, Bucky could have guessed that she was at least twenty-one and not sixteen.

“Dad!” Teddy calls, snapping his fingers. Bucky hadn’t been able to hear his son over the loudness of his worried thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Where’s my acne medication? Mom said you would pick it up.”

Bucky fills his daughter’s water bottle at the refrigerator, watching her roll her eyes at her brother and shake her head. She seems to have a never-ending attitude, and it makes Bucky crazy at times.

“Uh, yeah, buddy. I just picked it up. I’ll go grab it for you when I finish up in here,” Bucky explains.

“Can you just leave it on my bed?” Teddy beams before sprinting off, calling back that he’s going to hang out with one of his friends, a kid who lives two houses down.

“Have fun!” Bucky calls back, grinning. Christina scoffs.

“What’s that for?” he asks, cocking his eyebrow.

“How come he can just say, ‘mom, dad, I’m going over to Andrew’s!’ but if I so much as _say_ Emory’s name, I have to be in the house with him, where you can see me—”

“Your brother’s not going to hang out with a _girl_ ,” Bucky explains, grinning, “You want ice?”

Christina sighs, nodding. She steps carefully into the kitchen towards Bucky, thanking him and taking a large sip from her water bottle. He doesn’t realize how hard his expression has become until Christina reaches up to cup his cheek.

“Dad, are you _okay_? You look like you’re…”

“Huh?” Bucky asks, lightly cupping his daughter’s wrist.

“You look like you’re going to cry,” Christina explains, “And I think the only times I’ve ever seen you use a mop were when Teddy had the flu and threw up or the dog peed as a puppy,” Christina explains, her mouth falling agape slightly as she catches sight of the cracked mop in the middle of the kitchen.

“Is something wrong with you and mom?” she asks abruptly, looking concerned.

“What? No, sweetie. Not at all,” Bucky explains, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Then why are you cleaning?” she asks. Bucky’s daughter is too smart. He closes his eyes a long moment, and nearly jumps upon feeling Christina’s hand make contact with his forehead.

“Are you sick, daddy?”

“No. I’m fine, baby girl,” he reassures her, passing a hand down her arm.

“Well, I think you should put all that cleaning shit away. The fumes must be getting to you,” she says.

“Did you just swear?” Bucky asks, cocking a brow again.

Christina smiles cheekily.

“ _No_ ,” she says deviously. He laughs. She’s still very much a playful child.

“I’ll let that slide, but if your mother heard that, she wouldn’t be pleased,” Bucky explains.

“H-how’s Emory?” Bucky asks before Christina can make a complete exit. She pauses in the doorway, downing some more water before she turns to face Bucky, shrugging.

“I dunno. I haven’t seen him since last night. You were there, remember?”

“Alright, baby girl. I don’t need the attitude. I know how you kids are, texting and snap chatting and all that.”

Christina laughs.

“You’re so old, dad,” she beams. He finds it hard not to smile. This is Christina in a _good_ mood.

“Not really—”

“Yeah, you just don’t look it yet,” Christina explains, “’cept a few grays.”

Bucky passes a hand through his hair where it’s coming lose from its bun.

“Stina?”

“Yeah?” she asks, turning around again.

“…Y-you and Emory, do you ever kiss each other?”

Christina’s face reddens like a tomato.

“ _Oh my god_ , dad,” she sighs, turning around. He steps towards her.

“No, I mean it, Stina. I just need to know that he treats you well, that you don’t feel pressure to do—”

“Dad! Oh my god. _Okay_. Yes, Emory and I…kiss sometimes. That’s it,” Christina explains. He can tell from her expression that she’s being honest with him. He could usually tell when his children were lying.

“And he doesn’t ever make you feel like you _have_ to kiss—?”

“No,” she interrupts, crossing her arms and shrinking somewhat, clearly not comfortable talking with Bucky about this.

“Look, I just need to know ‘cause I’m your dad and all I want in life is for you to be safe, Christina.”

“Dad,” she sighs, looking away, leaning against the wall.

“Does he pressure you to have sex—?”

“Ugh!”

Christina looks at Bucky like he’s insane.

“Can you _not_ say words like that?”

“What? Sex? You’re a teenager. You know what that is.”

“It’s _weird_ when you say it,” Christina explains. Bucky takes a deep breath.

“You don’t have to worry about that kind of thing, dad. I mean…I’ve always seen how special you treat mom and…well, Emory is such a gentleman, like you are with mom. He doesn’t make me feel pressure to do anything. Happy?”

Before Bucky can answer, his daughter rushes down the hall and up the stairs. He relaxes a little bit, believing that she’d been honest, or at least told him what he wanted to hear. And he smiles, realizing that his daughter actually thinks so highly of him. During her last outburst, he had felt as though she hated him. But this was never the case.

Bucky opens the top cabinet where he had hidden the prescriptions. He removes them all from the bags, leaving the birth control pills where he had hidden them before venturing up to Theodore’s room. As he had expected to find, Christina’s door is closed. But she’s not blasting rock music. She doesn’t do this anymore, for the punishment is losing her iPod for a week. She only ever used to blast music when she didn’t want to hear what he and Cherise had to say to her, but ever since going to therapy again, she’s become a little bit more compliant with the rules in the house. Bucky walks into his son’s room to find that it’s in relatively good shape. Theodore and Bucky were used to Cherise being on everyone about keeping the house clean, even in their rooms where she personally spent the least time. Theodore had folded his clothes and put them away, leaving the empty hamper on his bedroom floor. Bucky places the acne medication on his son’s bed as he had requested.

Curiosity gets the better of him and he breezes through a few of Theodore’s drawers, leaving things perfectly un-disturbed, curious to know whether his son at the very least kept a dirty magazine. He thought about cellphones after not finding anything and realized that if Theodore was looking at any porn, it certainly wouldn’t have been in a physical magazine that he’d run the risk of anyone finding in his bedroom. Bucky laughs to himself before closing Theo’s door and knocking on Christina’s.

“Come in,” she says. Bucky opens the door and sticks his head in to find that Christina is curling her hair, simultaneously Skyping one of her girlfriends.

“Hi, Mr. Barnes!” A teen named Diane calls through the screen.

“H-hi there,” Bucky says, waving. Christina pauses in curling her hair to look back at him.

“Oh—sorry, baby girl. I have something for you. I’ll just…”

Bucky places the bottle of medication on Christina’s night stand.

“Thanks.”

“Bye, Mr. Barnes!” Diane practically screams from inside Christina’s computer. Christina sighs with irritation, turning the volume down on her friend. Bucky laughs and waves, slowly closing the door.

“Oh my god—Chrissy! Your dad is a dilf. Like, literal _dilf_.”

“ _Ew_! What the hell, D? That’s my _dad_!” Christina whisper-screams at her friend.

“And he still calls you _baby girl_! I literally cannot!”

Bucky cocks an eyebrow, wondering what a dilf is, cringing outwardly as he hastily looks it up on his phone as he makes his way down the stairs again. He makes a mental note to tell Cherise that Diane is no longer allowed over at their house.

When Cherise returns, it’s just before 5PM, and she finds Bucky sitting on the couch, wringing his hands nervously. She sighs, kicking off her shoes and making her way over to Bucky on the couch. She kisses his cheek, leaning on his shoulder.

“So, I hope you had a good day,” he starts.

“I did,” Cherise grins. Lifting her head to kiss him. He smiles.

“So, please don’t get mad at me. I talked to Christina. I didn’t mention the birth control pills or give them to her, but I flat out asked her if she’s doing the deed with Emory, pretty much.”

“What did she say?”

“Well, everything a dad wants to hear, but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me about the pills.”

Bucky leans back against the couch, rubbing Cherise’s back with his knuckles and turning the volume down on the news. She turns to face him.

“Has Stina been on this for a while now and you just didn’t tell me?”

Cherise sighs.

“Bucky, she’s only been on the pill for two months. And I didn’t tell you about them because Christina didn’t want me to.”

“Wait, she _is_ sexually active?!” Bucky’s eyes widen and he sits up straight, gazing desperately into his wife’s eyes. He balls his fists.

“No—no, James—”

“Well, how do you _know_ she’s not?” he asks, his heart rate going up again, “And why wouldn’t she want me to know? I’m her father—her number one protector in this world. How could you keep this from me, Cherry?”

Cherise sighs, rubbing her temples.

“James, calm down.”

“No. I don’t want to calm down. I don’t want any boys doing dirty things to my little girl,” he explains, standing up and starting to the kitchen. Cherise dogs his heels. He pulls the pills down out of the cabinet, holding them up in front of Cherise’s face.

“Why would you keep this from me, Cherry? You didn’t tell me about the boy until I caught her trying to _sneak away_ with him. I thought we agreed that being open was the key to good parenting, and now I find out you’re not telling me things—”

“Dad, _stop_ ,” Christina says loudly, walking into the kitchen. Bucky’s wide eyes land on her and she rushes up to him and grabs the pills.

“I asked you not to tell him, mom. Thanks a lot!” Christina exclaims, walking away angrily.

“Christina,” Cherise calls after her. She glares at Bucky. He hadn’t realized their daughter was listening. He didn’t even hear her come down the stairs. She must have been wondering where her pills were, because he’d only left the psych meds for her in her room.

“She’s _not_ having sex, okay? She came to me herself and talked about it. More than once. She doesn’t even want _me_ to see her naked, James. She’s not on the pill for that reason. I didn’t tell you about it because she didn’t want me to. It was her doctor’s suggestion to help Christina see if it helps her with her irregular periods. James, she feels awkward talking to us about these kinds of things, especially to _you_ because you're a _guy_.” Cherise explains, pressing her finger between his pecks momentarily.

Bucky can tell that he’d gone overboard, and the exhaustion in Cherise’s voice and expression make him feel even worse for starting an argument because she only just got home from work and he can tell she’s tired. She starts out of the kitchen, sighing, calling Christina’s name again.

“Cherry, wait,” he pleads, following her up the stairs to their daughter’s room. The door is closed and locked, as usual when Christina gets upset. But at the very least, she’s not blasting her music.

“I—I over reacted. I’m sorry,” he pleads, grabbing Cherise’s hips as she knocks on Christina’s door.

“Go _away_! Both of you! Can’t I get any _privacy_ in this house?!” Christina calls from inside, “Or is that too much to ask?!”

Bucky sighs.

“I’m _sorry_ ,” he explains, kissing the back of Cherise’s head.

“It’s my fault for forgetting to pick up the medicine myself,” she says, without even looking at him, “Now she doesn’t trust me.”

Bucky’s heart shatters at the thought of his daughter not trusting her mother. He hadn’t meant to harm the relationship between the two. There had been confidentiality there, which Christina believes her mother had betrayed. Cherise sighs, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. Bucky knocks on the door.

“Stina? Can we please talk? Mom didn’t tell me anything about the birth control pills. I swear. I just…I opened the bag to make sure I picked up the right medicine and I saw them. I’m sorry,” he explains. When she doesn’t answer, he slips to the floor and to Cherise’s surprise, starts crying.

“You’re my baby girl, Stina. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” Bucky admits. Cherise’s hands are passing through Bucky’s hair comfortingly. The door opens abruptly and Christina stares down at him, her anger quickly dissipating.

“Oh, god. I just don’t want you to get pregnant young. I don’t want some little bastard to break your heart,” he explains. Christina kneels in front of Bucky on the floor.

“Dad, you don’t have to _cry_ ,” she explains, gripping his shoulders.

“I told you the truth about Emory, okay? I’m not doing anything with him that I know you wouldn’t like. All we do is kiss.”

Christina hugs him and he relaxes. The sight of Christina embracing her dad makes Cherise’s eyes water and she grins.

“Your mother didn’t tell me anything—I promise. I’m sorry that I put my nose in your business. I was just concerned. That’s all,” Bucky explains. Christina stands to rip a handful of tissues out of a box on her night stand and kneels in front of Bucky again, dabbing his eyes. He calms down. Christina looks up at Cherise.

“I’m sorry, mom. I was confused,” Christina explains.

“It’s okay, sweetie.”

“And for the record, dad, you can always just _talk_ to me, okay? You don’t have to go through my things.”

Bucky nods.

“Now, I believe you owe mom an apology,” the girl explains, standing up and crossing her arms. Bucky stands, kissing Cherise’s forehead repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, honey,” he says.

Cherise kisses him back. Bucky finds himself surprised at how well his daughter managed to handle this, and he quickly realizes that his daughter isn’t a baby anymore. She’s a young woman.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Emory doesn’t even believe in sex before marriage,” Christina explains to them both before closing the door gently and leaving them utterly dumbfounded.


End file.
